Continued from previous post: Thought I would jot down a few more things before I blonk everything out.

Candace took off around 7 am Monday morning, and then we had a parade of hospital staff come in. The parade included a couple of therapists. The OT (occupational therapist) really cracked me up. She asked Tom what seemed like a hundred inane questions. And it wasn't really the questions that were off-putting- it was her voice. Like nails on a chalkboard. And she talked to him like he was three years old, cutesy-bouncy.  "What is the date", "What year is it?" "Who is the President?" "What time is it?". Tom had to think about that one for a second- he is not a clock watcher, and time in a hospital either moves really, really fast or really, really slow. He guessed, "eight o'clock"?"  The OT pounced on that. "Noooooo.... it is almost 9!" There were more questions, "do you live in a house?", "can you take your socks off and put them back on?", "do you use a walker?". There were more of that ilk, then came the fun and games. "Okay- now we are going to do a grooming activity!" Tom patiently, quietly, answered all her questions until she ran out of them, and we were all relieved to hear that she wouldn't need to come back because Tom was doing okay. I talked to Candace on the phone later on that day and related the OT conversation. Candace made me feel a lot better about it- she works at a different hospital in St. Louis, in the Intensive Care Unit. OT's are there, as well, and as Candace explained, they have to talk to every single patient that comes in and run through the same set of questions each time, as part of the new patient processing. So if the OT sounded robotic and rushed, it was due to having to ask the same questions over and over and over and over again, every day.

To back-track- and because I don't remember what happened when, Tom was swooped in and out of the room for different things over Sunday and Monday. The CT scan had to wait until Tom's kidney was rehydrated enough to be able to cope with the contrast dye. I think that they decided against that, and ran a CT which did not require dye. 

I left the hospital about about 11 am on Monday to go home, take care of some things at the house, then over to Bunker Hill to turn in copy, process pictures and stories and get the newspaper I work on at least laid out. I work with really, really great people, and I can't say enough good about them. Because of my situation, they are all taking on extra duties when I need to be away. I was able to get things lined out by five, then headed on over to Candace and Chads. She, Verity and I went to the hospital and saw how Tom was doing. He still was hooked up to all kinds of things, and was not feeling well still. Wendy had been with him in the afternoon, and got to talk to the radiologist, the oncologist and the fellow whose specialty is placing stents, a small mesh tube.  The problem, as determined by the scans was that a lymph gland, affected by cancer, had pushed against the small intestine bowel wall, and had pushed it to a position where it was essentially closed shut. Their plan was to insert the stent into the bowel. The second choice was radiation- I think to try to shrink the offending lymph node, but there were some complications with that idea, so they were not keen about pursuing that. That's what we knew by Monday night, and the procedure was to take place on Tuesday.

I went over to the newspaper office very early on Tuesday to get as much done as I could by 8 am. Then I took off for the hospital. I mentioned in a previous post that the Center for Advanced Medicine was a ghost town on Sunday. It was certainly the opposite on Tuesday at 10 am. The street in front of the building was crammed with cars for two blocks; the valet parking lanes were filled and overflowing. A traffic cop was on hand to direct people around the worst of it. Parking was completely different as well. Each level was crammed with cars; slowly, slowly, I edged up each level until we were on the roof- and around and around and around I went there, until I finally saw a space- there were only about four left on the roof. Whew!

I wasn't there long until they came to take Tom away to get the stent procedure done. That was about 11 am. I stayed in his room, and loved the quiet time. I had brought a jacket with me that I needed to replace the zipper on, so I worked on getting the zipper out with a seam ripper- sitting in the recliner by the window, getting the benefit of good light and warm sunshine. At about 1 pm, I wondered how things were going- I went to the nurses station and asked, but they didn't know. It wasn't long after that, that a really nice nurse with a sunbeam smile came in and told me that everything was going well. I kind of dozed off, then I heard an orderly moving things around on the other side of Tom's hospital room. On Monday, they said that they were going to be moving another patient in with Tom. We were kind of disappointed, because it is really nice to have a room to yourself, but they have to make best use of their facility. The roommate didn't materialize Monday night, or Tuesday morning. When I heard the furniture being re-arranged over there, (I had the dividing curtain pulled most of the way over), I thought that he had finally arrived. That went on for a little while longer, then I got up to see who the roommate was. The orderly had left a patient on a gurney in the hallway. I looked, then I LOOKED- and it was Tom!  I guess maybe the orderly thought I was a patient and he would have to get the other side ready. We ended up having the room to ourselves the whole time. That was nice!

Things started going uphill after the procedure. While Tom was knocked out, they removed the NG tube, which was a big relief for him. I went home about 6:30, then Candace came to visit after I left. 

I was determined to get there bright and early Wednesday. After making a couple of stops (thank you Walmart for being open 24 hours), I got there about 6:30 am. Tom got to start clear liquids. The hospital food situation was a lot different from when I had our babies. Instead of circling items to order, and then being delivered at a set time, you could pick up the phone and order from the list of foods at anytime until 8 pm. Tom was able to eat some, but not much. But he was headed in the right direction! I decided to spend the night on Wednesday. We watched some TV together before calling it a day. 

Thursday. I tried to order Tom some breakfast, but the lines were busy for 1 1/2 hours. Kind of frustrating- but it was one of those situations that turned out the way it was supposed to. Dr. Ding (not pronounced 'ding')- the doctor who would pop in on a regular basis, to give us an update on what was going on, said that Tom could go on a 'full liquid' diet. So, of course, when Tom picked up the phone to order some of that, he got in on the first try. 

We had some visitors on Thursday- Matt Harvey stopped in and saw us; also Bill and Kathy Cooper. It was really nice to visit with them!

We got the green light to go home in the early afternoon. Also Grace and Abby were on their way here. I was really excited that they were coming- that would be so nice to have other people there when we left- they could help with our stuff....AND the driving! 

I like how the hospital let me take Tom out in a wheelchair, instead of waiting for an orderly. We just packed up, got Tom in a chair, then I met Grace and Abby in the parking garage. Grace drove our van with Tom, and I rode with Abby in her car. After stopping at CVS to turn in our prescription orders, we went HOME! 

It's been great to have Abby and Grace here- it's like a home health service- they have cooked, shopped and also took Tom's car into the shop to check out a electrical issue. Tom and I have been totally basking in being at home. 

We are scheduled to go to the oncologist next Tuesday. I hope that things will be pretty ordinary and get back into a routine. Tom had to cancel his speaking engagement this weekend; I don't know about next weekend- he has a couple places he is supposed to go, but that will just depend on how he is feeling. He has been eating a lot more today; that is encouraging.

Tom took a 'chemo break' early this year. I had almost forgotten- I did a blog post about that already. 

As a reference point, he had his last chemo treatment in December, then the radiation. His next appointment was at the end of March for a CT scan and bone scan, then a follow-up appointment for beginning a new regimen of chemo.  

At the appointment with his chemo doctor, she said that we would have to delay it for a week, and try to get Tom built up- he had lost about 20 pounds since December. We attributed that to the pain in his back, and a couple of weeks he was battling a virus which landed him in the emergency room. Because of the pain in his back, he had been taking some big-time painkillers. His appetite was very poor- he would drink lots of tea with honey- crackers, soup, juice. But never very much at a time, and sometimes he would only eat once a day. 

In response to the doctor's instruction to get some more meat on him, I went to Walmart and loaded up the grocery cart with all kinds of tempting, high-calorie foods. That was on Tuesday evening after the appointment. Wednesday- he really ate a lot, and I thought we were back on track. We went to church, and Tom felt good, and enjoyed being there and visited for a long time after services.

Thursday found him without an appetite, which was disappointing. And on Friday, he was the same, if not some worse. I called Billy Meek, of the White Oak congregation and told him that we wouldn't be able to make it. I thought we had a bug- my innards were not feeling all that great either so we thought it was a bug. Later, I found out that Tom had vomited that night. Saturday, he was in bed most of the day, sick to his stomach. Sunday morning, I checked on him, and could tell that he was really very ill. I asked him if he wanted me to take him to the hospital, and he indicated, "yes."

Our phone has been having some issues over the last month- our land line. There had been a LOT of static on it, so much, that I unplugged our cordless phone and plugged in our phone that we save for power outage emergencies. the kind that has the coiled cord, and you have to stand in place and talk. It sounded better, or at least it had until the morning that I really needed it to behave. I called the oncologist's number, which then directed me to the answering service. I left a message, then a Dr. Christopher talked to me, or tried to talk to me through the buzzing phone line. I finally gave him my cell phone number. But that wasn't much better, because the only good place at our house to talk on our cell is if we go outside. So I threw on my coat over my robe and jammies and was standing out in the yard talking to him. He told me that he had arranged a bed at Barnes. I asked him if it would be possible for us to go to Barnes West. Barnes West is much smaller, we were used to it- that is where Tom gets scans and his cancer center is adjacent to it. And parking is not a hassle, either. He reluctantly agreed that we could go there, so I packed Tom into the car, and off we went. I called Wendy and told her what was going on, so she could phone tree her siblings. She advised us to go to what I call "Big Barnes"; they would have everything Tom needs. It was possible if we had gone to Barnes West, that he might have to transfer anyway, so it just made more sense to go with the bigger hospital. I called Dr. Christopher back and told him that we had changed our minds. He should get an award for his patience with us. He said that he would call back and let us know if a bed was still available; which there was. So off to "Big Barnes" we headed. Well, I should mention that I am driving on I-270 when I am conversing with the doctor. Tom was not really 'there' with his misery and all. The doctor was giving me directions to where we should go, what streets to look for. He said there would be valet parking, and that I should go in, turn left, then look for this set of elevators and the Shoenberg Pavilion and go to the seventh floor. I repeated everything he said to Tom, because I had no faith at all in my memory. I got to the street by the hospital, then Tom came out of his stupor enough to tell me to turn right at a street. It wasn't the street the doctor told me, but turns out it was an even better way to go.

And this is when it got really surreal. When I say, "Big Barnes", it is not only the main hospital, which is unbelievably huge- there are several other really big buildings that take up several blocks. We got to the Advanced Medicine Building, and turned in. There were NO cars there at all. I pulled into a valet parking lane- one of three or four marked that way. And I waited for someone to come out and valet our car- but there was NOBODY. Next to our car was a row of wheelchairs. I thought that I would just let the car sit, since no one was around and just take Tom in myself. I went to back up a wheelchair and it wouldn't budge. The wheels were locked, and I had no idea how to unlock them. So, I thinks to myself that I will go in and find someone to help me. The entrance to this huge, modern building has a huge revolving door, with three sections in the door. Each section would accommodate a person pushing a wheelchair. I entered the building through one of those and found myself in a huge, HUGE atrium- empty and echoing. I went over to the unmanned information desk and saw a sign that told me that no one was there that day, and to use the phone. At this point in time, I decided to use some old-fashioned 'hollers', and called out, "Hellloooooooo'', "Hellllloooooo", and looked all around the vast waiting area and staircases to see if ANYONE was there. 

God always provides, of course. Down a distant set of stairs, came a very nice orderly in a blue uniform. I asked him if he could help us, and when I remarked on there not being anyone there for anything, he said that it was not only Sunday, but Easter Sunday. Which explained a lot. I told him what the doctor had told me about where they wanted Tom to be. (Poor Tom- he was still sitting out in the car all this time). The orderly came out and with no problem at all, got Tom loaded up and into the building. I sure was hoping that we were on the same page when I gave him the directions for Tom's destination.

There is a parking garage next to that building- that turned out beautifully, as well, also. I got a primo parking space, since I was essentially the only person there besides the skeleton crew working that day. By the grace of God, I was able to wander through the building and managed to find the right hallways, elevator, and eventually room, where Tom was getting settled in. 

I won't go into all the details of what Tom went through. He was sick, sick, sick, and getting dangerously ill. He was so dehydrated from vomiting that it affected his kidney function, and since he pretty much just has one that works, we were concerned about that. He was so nauseous that they put a tube down his nose into his stomach and connected it to a vacuum device. We were absolutely shocked at how much that pulled out of him. At that point in time, we didn't know what was the matter with him. Turns out that his small intestine was blocked completely. 

But we didn't know that until Monday. On Sunday, Wendy came to the hospital to be with Tom and I. It was nice to spend time with her. We couldn't locate the cafeteria at lunchtime, so went across the street from the building and ate at Applebees. I felt guilty enjoying really delicious food, while Tom was having gastrointestinal issues, but hope that we can go out to eat sometime in the near future. When we came back to the building Wendy and I had a good laugh- we had walked right by the cafeteria. If we had just looked to our left we would have seen it- but their food isn't as nice as Applebees anyway.

Wendy left, and it wasn't long until Candace came by. She had just finished her shift at the hospital she works with, which is affiliated with Barnes. This was about 8 pm, and she decided that she too, would spend the night. Hospital staff had already brought in a rollaway bed for me; there was also a recliner. We settled in for the night at about 10 pm. Candace was in the recliner, I was on the rollaway- neither promised a really restful night, but we wanted to take care of Tom. Candace and I restlessly 'slept' for about four hours, then switched. She got some sleep, and I just got up and worked on newspaper stuff on the laptop for a couple of hours, then literally passed out in the recliner after that. Poor Tom had a bad night- he was up and down and up and down and in so much discomfort- he would sit on his bed and rock back and forth. He never complained or moaned, but we could tell that he was in a lot of pain.

I think I will take a break for now- maybe I will add more later. I am not really thinking of this as a public post, but as a journal entry.